Family Treasure
by JosettePoole
Summary: This story takes place AFTER the movie. Everything is great at the Gates household until an unexpected guest shows up. This guest makes Ben have to look back at his past and everyone's future.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I own NONE of the characters, except for Jane and Elizabeth. Not one. If I did, I'd be a very wealthy person...

"Ben, Riley, Patrick! Dinner's ready," called Abigail Gates. She had just placed down the Watergate salad on the table to complete the Thanksgiving feast. Taking a step back, she looked at the finished product of a meal and was utterly please. All three men gathered around the table with gleaming eyes. Ben took his small, blonde wife in his arms and kissed her lips.

"Are we going to eat or starve," Riley questioned. Everyone smiled and sat down to the glorious feast presented to them. As they began to eat, choruses of "this is delicious" and "thank you" poured out of the men's mouths and filled the room like Christmas bells. Riley looked up from his plate, with his mouth full of turkey and mashed potatoes, and claimed that the food was orgasmic. There was an awkward silence.

"You know," began Ben "if it was not for Lincoln then we wouldn't even be sitting -." He was cut of in mid sentence by a knocking on the door. Who would actually cal on Thanksgiving? All of the Gates clan was at the table and it was a holiday, so the telemarketers had the day off. Or they just had the courtesy not to call. Patrick got up from his seat.

"How about I get that. You kids sit down and keep eating." He walked to the door and looked eagerly for the peep hole to see who was knocking. Then he remembered that there was no peep hole as the house was raised in about 1810. Patrick opened the door, letting the cold and brisk November night air slap his face. He looked down onto the porch and there stood a petite girl.

"Is there a Mr. Benjamin Gates home," asked the girl in a husky, low alto voice.

"Hold on for a moment please." Patrick closed the door and walked over to the dinning room table. There was idle chatter going, nothing really important.

"Ben, you have a visitor at the front door."

"Can't they come back? I'm eating dinner and we were just about to discuss an opening at the Smithsonian. They just found several new fossils -."

"I don't think so. You should come now." Ben rose and took brisk steps to the front door. He opened it and saw the girl standing there, looking at him with a slight smile. Her small features gave away that she couldn't have been older then eighteen.

"Hello Uncle Ben. I don't think we ever met before, but to make a very long story short I am your niece Elizabeth. I am the daughter of your sister Jane."

Ben looked at the child in shock. How could she be related to him? He swore his father told him that Jane passed away in the late eighties.

"Come in sweetheart. You look half frozen to death," started Patrick. He stepped aside and let Elizabeth in. She turned to the men and thanked them. Ben led her and his father into the parlor, while calling for his wife and good friend to come along as well.

"Elizabeth, this is my wife Abigail and my very good friend Riley Poole. The gentleman that first opened the door is my father Patrick Gates. Abby, Riley, this is my niece Elizabeth."

"When did you get a niece Ben," Riley asked.

"Apparently my older sister had a daughter."

Abigail sensed a little bit of tension between everyone. Not the angry type of tension, the kind that caused people to be silent and uncomfortable. She suggested that everyone sit by the fireplace and she would bring out some coffee. Elizabeth sat closest to the fire.

"So Elizabeth," began Ben.

"Please call me Lizzie. I rarely go by Elizabeth."

"So Lizzie, as you can imagine this is a big pretty big surprise to not only me but everyone here. Why are you here? Why aren't you with your mother or father?"

"Mom had just passed away from lung cancer. I'm shocked that she lived as long as she did smoking a pack of clove cigarettes a day. As for my father, he's not around. He's off somewhere."

"Rewind that for a moment," interrupted Ben. "How long ago did Jane die?" His heart felt ache, but his mind felt confusion. How could this teenaged girl be his niece? Was she telling the truth or not?

"About three months ago. As she laid in the hospital bed rotting away from the cancer, she informed me that since Daddy was good as gone that I was to find you. She kept telling me that you would help me. After she died, I had hardly any money so I stayed at a friend's house for a while which in the end destroyed the friendship and turned the friend into a cocaine loving monster. Thus, I had to find you!" There was a deafening silence. She began again, "I know you are probably thinking who am I really, or even that I may be a con-artist. But I assure you that I really am your niece!"

Her small pale hand took out of her ratty brown messenger bag and gleaming silver locket and handed it to Ben. Ben studied it, feeling the groves of the design on the top of it. Patrick took it out of his son's hands and gently opened. Inside there was a faded, almost yellow picture of a very young Jane Mercy Gates. Patrick felt tears whelm at his eyes. He then turned to Ben.

"Ben, she's telling the truth. This was your sister's favorite locket. I remember she wore it everyday. She would call me from school every time she forgot to put it on and I'd have to bring it to her." Patrick chuckled, his mind began to cloud with memories.

"I guess I should be going now, I've taken up enough of your time." Elizabeth rose from her seat and stretched her arms out toward the ceiling. She then bent down to get her messenger bag. Abigail interrupted the girl's actions.

"No, I think you should stay with us tonight. It's so busy outside with everyone driving out there and during the holidays, it's almost impossible to find a hotel in Philly. We also have plenty of rooms. What do you think Ben?"

"Of course she can stay," he said nonchalantly. "I think Abby has a pair of pajamas you could also borrow."

Elizabeth felt a wide grin emerge on her face. Abigail took her hands and the two females rushed upstairs. Riley, noticing that all the reasonably " important" action was over for the night, returned to the dining room in hopes of finding remnants of somewhat warm turkey. Patrick and Ben were left alone.

Ben turned to look at his father. "I thought Jane was dead for quite sometime now? This was a surprise.." He sat down in the brown leather recliner and deeply exhaled.

"Well," began Patrick. He walked up to Ben as if his own son were vicious animal, one that would rip out an explorer's eyes because it was being poked and prodded. Ben did have the capacity to blow up at someone who he considered lying to him.

"Obviously, that wasn't the entire truth. It's very complex and complicated -"

"I have time Dad. Tell me everything."

"This whole situation began when I first told your sister about the treasure. After your grandfather told you about it, Jane found out that you were told something she wasn't. She asked Grandfather over and over to tell her what he told you. He wouldn't and it hurt Jane every time that he declined her request. I was getting angry as well. Why couldn't a Gates know about a treasure WE were searching for? So one day I asked him why. I was informed that the treasure was a male's only club, no females allowed. I walked out of the room so angry, I could have killed someone."

"How does this effect Jane?"

"I'm getting there. So I took her aside and I told her about the treasure. She lit up like a Christmas tree. Then she asked why her own grandfather wouldn't tell her about it and I told her why. She was upset. One could see the seeds of revenge being sowed in her eyes. She began to obsess about the treasure and vowed to find it."

"That's what I did as well!"

"You wanted to find it for the world and to share, she wanted to find it so she could throw it in the family's face. She already had lists of items she was going to buy once she found it and discussed how she would forget about all of us after she had her riches. She only wanted the treasure out of greed and revenge. So, after her freshmen year of college she dropped out and began to look for the treasure herself."

"It sounds like a female Ian. They should have hooked up," commented Riley from the dining room. He had listened to the conversation intensively.

Ben turned to his young friend. "Go back to eating Riley... It's funny, how little Elizabeth looks like her mother. She just has Jane's eyes and dark, curly hair. Everything else looks familiar, but I just can't name where I've seen them before. Anyway, I'm glad she's here."

Patrick nodded in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

Abigail softly trotted down the carpeted steps. Elizabeth was fast asleep in the warm bed in the guest room. The men's voices were audible from where Abigail was standing. Ben turned to see his wife and everything became quiet.

"She's asleep," said Abigail with a smile. She sat down on the leather sofa and picked up a lukewarm cup of coffee. "She also told me more about herself."

"What did she say," Patrick asked.

"First of all, her full name is Elizabeth Catherine Gates. For some reason, her mother wanted her to keep the name Gates although she was married. Elizabeth said she doesn't have an inkling why her mother wanted to do that. Other then that, she told me that she's sixteen and an honors student. She also talked about how happy she was that she found us. I'd never seen a child look so grateful before. I mean, most teenagers when they say 'thank-you' they don't seem very sincere. She did."

"That's good," smiled Ben. It always made him feel wonderful inside when he could make someone's life just a little bit more enriched. Now he was left with a question, where would Elizabeth stay? He just couldn't let a sixteen year old girl go aimlessly through the streets of Philly. That was like sending a pilot out on a suicide mission. Patrick could pick up on what his son was thinking just by looking in his eyes, it was a gift that every father had.

"Well, if she has no where to go I'd be glad to take her in. It might brighten up the house," suggested Patrick.

Ben thought about the suggestion. It sounded tempting. His father would have someone to keep him company in the house and Elizabeth would be taken care of. Patrick also had a stable income, as well as dental and health insurance. Ben, although he found the treasure over a year ago, still had no health insurance and no steady income. He was basically living off Abigail's salary from her job at the archives.

Abigail spoke up. "That would be a promising situation for both parties. Dad, what school is the closest to you?"

"There really isn't one. I forgot about that."

"Then it's settled. Elizabeth will be staying with us," concluded Ben. "It's really late now, so Dad and Riley you both are welcome to stay the night if you wish."

"Way ahead of you buddy," yelled Riley. He had taken off his shirt and was at the top of the stairs.

"Riley, keep it down! She's asleep," chastised Abigail in a whisper.

"My bad."

"As I was saying before Riley kindly interrupted, it's late and everyone should get to bed. Good night." With that, everyone retreated to their rooms.


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth woke up around six o'clock the next morning. She sat up in the huge, soft, queen-sized bed and observed her surroundings. The wallpaper was pale pink and crème in color, yet she had to squint to see it because it was fading. She crawled over to the bottom of her bed and looked up. A print of Copley's "Watson and the Shark" was hanging above the bed. She figured from the painting, wallpaper, and furniture that her uncle was an American Revolution buff. It only made sense that Ben would have a print of Copley, as he was one of the most famous painters of that time. He was renown for his portraits of patriots. When the Revolution was in force, Copley fled Boston for England, as he was a loyalist. Elizabeth shook her head, trying to examine the rest of the room and put her thoughts of the painter to rest.

She tiptoed out of bed and opened the door. Looking out into the hallway, she couldn't see a soul. Then a door began to open, crying out with a creek. A tall male figure emerged into the hallway. Elizabeth shut her door quietly and quickly, and then jumped into her bed. The steps to her room grew closer; she enjoyed the anticipation of finding out who was coming near. The doorknob turned and the door was opening. She almost stopped breathing.

There, standing in the darkness was a shirtless young man. His chest was full of dark curls. He had a bit of a tummy, but in general he was quite attractive. Elizabeth looked into his face.

"Riley?"

"The one and only. What's up with open door-close door gig? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am. I just woke up and wanted to see if anyone was up yet. I am really sorry if I woke you up." He went over and sat on her bed.

"It's alright. You didn't wake me up. Ben and Abby should wake up about an hour from now. I don't know about Patrick though. But since we are up, let's get some breakfast."

"Shouldn't we wait for everyone else?"

"In theory, yes. My stomach though says that they would not mind." Elizabeth chuckled.

Riley and Elizabeth went down the stairs to the kitchen. Riley threw open the refrigerator door open. He leaned over in the machine as if he was going to climb in.

"We have," he began, "left over potatoes, greens, Watergate salad, yams, some turkey, pasta, eggs, pizza, salsa, and cheese. I personally plan to go for the pizza. What do you want?"

"Pizza is not breakfast Riley. You sit down at the table and I'll fix the both of us breakfast. Hold on, do you think Ben would mind?"

"Not really."

With that said, Elizabeth pulled out a frying pan, eggs, greens, and cheese. Riley attempted to what she was cooking, but to his dismay he was sent to the dinning room to wait. Five minutes passed by.

"You know pizza would have taken less time," he called out.

"That is true. But what I'm making is healthier and better for us in the long run. Anyway, don't you know cooking takes time?"

"Not if you go to McDonald's." Elizabeth sighed. "Really! That's why I only eat food that I can throw in the microwave or food that is already made for my consumption."

Elizabeth looked into the dinning room. Riley looked up at her and grinned. His ice blue eyes gleamed with mischief. She smiled back at him. Looking back, she saw that the omelettes she had prepared were ready for serving. She turned the stove off and placed on each of the plates she had in front of her an omelette. Carrying the plates out, she smiled and placed Riley's in front of him.

"What's this," asked Riley when his plate was set before him. He studied the yellow and green object.

"It's a spinach and cheese omelette. Enjoy!"

Riley looked down at his food. He didn't care for vegetables at all. It was a dislike that he carried with him from childhood. He could remember his aunt pleading with him as a five year old to eat his veggies and he'd flat out refuse to take part in eating them. Taking his fork, he prodded the omelette. When he looked up at Elizabeth; she was pouting a little and her dark eyes showed sadness. He sensed that her feelings were hurt because he wasn't enjoying her cuisine she had made.

"I just want to make sure it's cool, that's all. I don't want to burn my mouth." Elizabeth smiled. Riley took a piece of his food and stabbed it with his fork. He then put the food in his mouth and began chewing it. Much to his surprise, he liked it! His eyes gleamed with approval and he commented on how much he enjoyed the meal. When Elizabeth got up to put away and clean the dishes, Riley stole her unfinished portion and devoured it. She came back to see her omelette gone. Riley's only reply was that he was still hungry.

_Author's Note: Hey guys! I can update more frequently now since I'm out of summer school. So stay tuned for more chapters of FAMILY TREASURE! Thank you all who have commented my work. _


	4. Chapter 4

Ben and Abigail woke up in their warm king sized bed. The sun peaked through the curtains on the wall to greet them. It was still a little chilly in the room, so they snuggled close together.

"We better get up Ben. I have a feeling that Riley is up and we might be food-less for the rest of the day. You know how he eats all the time." She leaned over to kiss her husband gently. They both got out of bed and slipped on their robes.

"Do you think Lizzie is up yet? How do you think she's going to react when we tell her the news," asked Ben.

"I don't know."

When the married couple reached the bottom of the steps, they saw a soft blue glow coming from the television room. As they walked toward the room, soft giggles could be heard as well as Riley's voice. Ben took long, quiet strides to get to the room faster. When he peeked in he saw Riley sprawled out on his sofa and Elizabeth sitting on the floor watching the television.

"Riley," began Ben, "where is your shirt? No one wants or needs to see that first thing in the morning. Also, please sit up. How come Lizzie has to sit on the floor and you get to sprawl out on the couch?" Riley sat up at once.

"EWWW! Riley put a shirt on," Abigail demanded as she walked into the room. Riley blushed and went upstairs promptly to get dressed. Ben and Abigail sat on the couch.

"First of all, sit up here. We're so sorry you had to see that. Riley has the habit of acting sixteen instead of twenty-six," began Abigail.

"Me, Abby, Riley, and Dad talked last night about letting you stay here. At first we thought that it would be best to let you stay with Dad, but we found out there wasn't a school near-by. So we decided you can live here. But, you since you'll live here you'll have responsibilities like chores. You'll also have a curfew. Is this understood?"

"Yes Uncle Ben! Thank you both so much! I promise to obey all.."

"I'm glad to have you, but please don't call me Uncle Ben. It makes me feel old and well, like I should be serving rice." Elizabeth nodded in agreement. Ben left the room; Abigail moved closer to the girl.

"Why are you all allowing me to stay?"

"Ben was close with your mother and by having you around, it's like having her around. He's truly is happy about having you staying, he's just not up yet he needs his coffee. Don't worry to much about the curfew either. He's usually preoccupied with something else, so he'll forget."

Both girls laughed and went into the kitchen for some coffee.


	5. Chapter 5: Three Months Later

Elizabeth skipped outside in the breezy March weather. She was to meet her grandfather out in the park, he said he had something special for her. The sun was shining, or it appeared to be, where Patrick was sitting. She ran to him.

"Hi Grandpa!" Grandpa; it was so weird to call a man she had only known for four months "grandfather". It was always a term that one would associate with a relationship that began at birth and has a certain closeness to it. They may have not met at her birth, yet they had a strong bond that developed fast. It was stronger then the one Ben and her shared, although that one was pretty tight as well.

"How's my favorite burger flipper," Patrick asked as he rose to give the girl an embrace. Elizabeth groaned. Ever since she got her job at All American Burger, many fast food restaurant jokes were thrown her way. She always ended up laughing them off remembering that she wasn't the first Gates family member to work there. Ben worked there in the early eighties.

"So what's up Grandpa?"

"As you know I said that I had something important for you. I thought that you may like to have this. It belonged to your mother." Patrick pulled out a small red book that was about the size of a child's diary. He handed it to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth took the book and opened it. The first page had written, in a style reminiscent of the handwriting of the monks of the medieval period, Jane Mercy Gates. She flipped through the rest of the book, every page had a print of a painting on it. Most of the pieces were by Renoir, but there were a few pieces by other artists such as Cezanne, Boucher, Millet and Delacroix tucked away in the book as well. She could recognize every painting by name, tell the story behind it, and critique it.

"How old was my mother when she received this?"

"She was about fifteen. She always loved art, no matter what kind. It was evident when she was a little girl that she loved color, form, and shape. That child went through so many coloring books, trying to imitate the processes she saw in the paintings. I remember once, when Jane tried to color a picture of a duck using pointillism. She got so frustrated! Eventually, she finished the duck entirely in little dots."

"Mom passed her love of art on to me. In our living room we had a DaVinci print hanging next to a Picasso one. I never cared for those and spoke my mind freely about it too. As a favor she let me pick prints to put in my room and I chose Renoir, Botticelli, Vermeer and several pieces from the Rococo period."

Riley then pulled up to the curb where Patrick and Elizabeth were talking. Elizabeth thanked her grandfather, offered him a ride (which he declined), and wished him good-bye. She climbed into the orange van.

"Hi Riley! Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem. On my way here I picked you up an ice cold lemonade and a turkey sandwich with no mayo."

"You are so sweet! You spoil me rotten."

"I like to. What's that book you've got? Let me guess, How Not to Serve Fries Before Their Time." He saw her fingers trace the spine of the cover. How he wanted those fingers to travel through his hair!

"You are such a jackass, you know that? But you're my favorite jackass, so it works out. Anyway, it's not a burger guide. It's a book my mom had when she was fifteen and it's chocked full of art prints. I don't think you'd find it interesting. None of it is about computers."

Riley pulled into a parking lot. He turned to Elizabeth and grinned. His blue eyes softly gleamed at her.

"Try me," he stated. "Just show me your favorite one and tell me about it. Just please don't use anymore than two fifteen syllable words."

"Okay." She opened the book and flipped to Delacroix's "Les Natchez". There on the page were three Native Americans. The father was holding a small infant and the mother was slouched by a rock, which had indicated she had just given birth to the infant.

"No offense Lizzie, but that's kind of a boring picture. It's just a bunch of Indians and the girl's boobies are showing." He smiled with pride at his observation.

"Um, I guess you're correct in the composition department. Anyway there's a story behind this painting. This family moved far away from their village because the British were taking over their old village and not treating them nicely. So the husband and wife, they were very young, lived in the mountain. One day, the wife gave birth to their baby. Sadly, soon after, both the baby and the mother died because they go sick. Then the father committed suicide. Basically, that's the story in a nutshell."

Riley wasn't paying attention to Elizabeth, but he was listening to her. He loved the way she said her s's with a slight lisp. It added a babyish element to her voice. He wanted to make her his baby. He wanted to hold her in his arms, kiss her, speak softly to her, and protect her from everything bad. He had felt this way about her for the last two months. Whenever he was over she gave him more attention then anyone in the room. He was never good with women; he'd always sweat, blush and stumble around them. Yet, she made him feel comfortable and special. That's when he figured out that he truly loved her.

There were only a couple things keeping him from acting on his impulses. First, it was the age difference between them. Ten years may not be a big difference to a lot of people, but he understood that both of them were in completely different stages in their lives. Then again, he saw that Elizabeth was mature and could handle a relationship between them. Secondly, she didn't seem interested in him in the way he was in her. Yes, she spent time with him and gave him all the attention in the world but that's it. She wouldn't even hug him when he left or when she first saw him. The big problem blocking him from Elizabeth was Ben. Over the past three months Ben had grown quite protective of her, as if she were his own daughter. Although Ben and Riley were best friends, Ben wouldn't allow a relationship between the two to happen. Hell, he flipped out whenever Riley took her to a movie. (Which was about every week.)

"Riley! Are you listening to me?"

"Of course I am! That was a sad story about those Indians." He put the car back into drive and got on the road. "How come you know all these stories about art? Some people don't even learn about that stuff until they enter college. Well, so they say..."

"I thought you were going to sign up for classes online Riley. You have enough money and you're very smart. You can't get too far in life without a college education. Please do sign up, you'll be so happy that you did. I'm bugging the crap out of you to do this because I believe you can." They both were silent. Riley pulled into the drive way. Elizabeth unbuckled her seatbelt, grabbed her stuff and turned toward him.

"Please stay for dinner! I positive Abby and Ben won't mind. If I'm correct, which I most likely am, we're having your favorite: spaghetti and meatballs."

Riley perked up and agreed to stay. Getting out of the van, he called the teenage girl over.

"May I carry your things for you?"

"You certainly may," she replied while handing her things to him.

_Author's note: I do not own ANY of the artisits or their paintings! I also don't own All American Burger. I just put that in b/c Nic Cage was in Fast Times at Ridgemont and he worked there in the movie. So it's a little joke. BTW: I don't like this chapter at all, so please be kind._


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